Introducing Students To the World of Open Source 182
paulproteus writes "Most computer science students never see a bug tracker, and very few learn about version control. Classes often don't teach the skills needed for participation. So I organized a weekend workshop at the University of Pennsylvania. Total newbies enthusiastically spent the day on IRC, learned git, built a project from source, and read bugs in real projects. I learned that there's no shortage of students that want to get involved."
Re:Wow... (Score:3, Insightful)
Wait until you get into college for your CS degree and see what level your classmates are at. It's sad, really.
It was the same way for me over 10 years ago.
Correction (Score:1, Insightful)
If by "world" you mean "religion", then okay.
There is nothing wrong with open source, but the dogma turns a lot of people off, including myself.
Re:Version control (Score:2, Insightful)
You are an idiot. Version control isn't that simple, even in a smaller project. Merges and Tree Conflicts are something that everyone should learn how to work out. I'm not saying it hard, but the sooner you are introduced to these concepts the better it will be in the long run. I would hope that after using a VCS that the students would continue to use it later on in other class projects.
Re:Version control (Score:5, Insightful)
You can make an argument that more people should be learning Software Engineering instead of Computer Science, but that's really a different discussion.
Not Open Source Specific (Score:4, Insightful)
The first thing that struck me, both from the summary and the article itself, is that none of these are really open-source specific.
To reiterate, the four they listed in the article are:
OK, well, you could argue command-line Linux skills are open-source, but that's not guaranteed.
If anything, these are skills that all businesses who have programmers would want them to understand.
Heck, even my current project, an internal project that I swear I could submit things to The Daily WTF [thedailywtf.com] every weekday for the next year on, has version control and bug tracking software!
Re:In my experiance... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Version control (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm confused as to how you got anything regarding "administration" out of my point that there was no need to lock a repository. Can you explain your point than just saying "you don't know anything" in the typically condescending attitude of a know-it-all?
Re:In my experiance... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd argue that trackers and version control should not be taught in a CS curriculum.
Trackers... OK, I don't see those as essential. Version control? Disagree vehemently. There might be a couple programs in the country where you can specialize in theory enough to avoid all heavy programming, but most programs require you to do at least some practical courses (OS, compilers, etc.), and even in programs where you could avoid such classes probably most students don't. And IMO, if you're teaching a programming-heavy class and you don't at least strongly recommend using version control and give a quick overview of what that means and why you want it, you're doing your students a big disservice.
I'm not saying "spend a week going over CVS, SVN, Git, and Mecrcural" or anything like that, but a 15-minute quick intro to one of them of your choice is definitely not out of place in many CS classes.
Re:Version control (Score:3, Insightful)
Using and administration are two very different things
Not so much with git. Just do your final git pull at the due time (start of class that day or whatever)
The prof can also git pull at their leisure to see what if anything the students are trying to do.
And it makes cheating accusations much more fun when there is a timestamped record.
Re:Version control (Score:3, Insightful)
Accepted. Slashdot does need an edit command.
Re:Wow... (Score:3, Insightful)
Wait until you get a job and see what level your coworkers are at.
Re:Not all educators are stuck in 1976 (Score:4, Insightful)
I teach for a BS degree in Web Design & Development. If you look at our courses [fullsail.edu], you'll see that we have a number that are very Open Source friendly. Sure, we partner with Adobe and Apple and have a huge focus on the Adobe CS apps (Flash, Photoshop/Illustrator, Flex, ColdFusion), but we also have entire courses on PHP, jQuery, mySQL, and Red5. And those are just the apps for which we spend an entire course. We also work in Git, CouchDB, Audacity, Eclipse, and many more common OSS apps and platforms. It's an open secret that we're working to launch a BS degree in Mobile Development that will have a very large Android curriculum.
Higher education doesn't have to be all boring theory and no practical application. Anyone who tells you that the university system can't keep up with rapidly-changing technology is sorely misinformed.
Twenty years from now, 90% of the technologies you mentioned will be just memories. A traditional BS from a traditional university is useful for pretty much an entire lifetime. Your BS program sounds a lot like a trade school program repackaged so that students can get financial aid. Don't get me wrong, I think these skills are useful -- I spent 10 years of my professional life teaching IT certification courses. However, I never considered what I did to be an alternative to a degree.
I would much rather see a university have trouble keeping up with technology than see one lose all sense of perspective chasing shiny things.
Re:In my experiance... (Score:3, Insightful)
Computer Science != Software Engineering != Programming.
Computer Science is the theory.
Programming is the practice.
Software Engineering is how to put the theory into practice.
Re:Not all educators are stuck in 1976 (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe you missed the part where I said I taught these classes for ten years. My point is that trade school is fundamentally different (not better or worse, different) from what the university system is designed to deliver. Giving a BS for learning thirty web development technologies is a bad idea. People will learn the tool of the day at work. The golden opportunity to learn to write and think critically is during an undergraduate degree program. I also don't think a web developer needs a BS. Everything needed to be a good web developer can be learned at a trade school.
The big problem with what is going on at a lot of "alternative" schools is the idea that any learning that is useful in the real world can be packaged together into a degree program. Web development is a skill, not a topic of study. I commend anyone who masters this skill and I wish them well in the work world (I might even hire them), but I don't think they have earned a BS. None of the HVAC or truck driving schools tried to turn into degree-granting institutions in the 70s or 80s. I've been on the inside of some of these schools and unfortunately the shift to degree-granting programs has usually been done solely so the students can qualify for financial aid.
BTW, I don't have a CS degree.